File Viewer
A File Viewer in Salesforce is a person or group granted read-only access to a Salesforce File.
Definition
A File Viewer in Salesforce is a person or group granted read-only access to a Salesforce File. A Viewer can view, download, and share the file, but cannot edit it, upload a new version, change its permissions, or delete it. Viewer is the most restrictive of the three file access levels, sitting below Collaborator (read and edit) and Owner (full control). On the ContentDocumentLink record that links a file to a user, group, or record, the ShareType field holds the value V to mark Viewer access.
How Viewer access works on Salesforce Files
What a Viewer can and cannot do
A Viewer gets a deliberately narrow set of rights. The official access level grants permission to view, download, and share the file, and nothing more. A Viewer cannot edit the file, cannot upload a new version, cannot change who else has access, and cannot delete it. Those edit and lifecycle rights belong to Collaborators and the Owner. The "share" right surprises some admins. A Viewer can pass read-only access along to other people unless the file Owner or a Collaborator selects "Prevent others from sharing and unsharing" in the share dialog. If you are handing a finalized document to an outside audience and you do not want them re-sharing it, turn that option on. Viewer is the correct level for read-only audiences: a customer reviewing a signed contract, an executive opening a finished report, or a partner reading reference material. They need to open and keep a copy of the file, while the authors keep control of the content itself.
ShareType V, C, and I on ContentDocumentLink
Every file share is stored as a ContentDocumentLink row that joins a ContentDocument to a LinkedEntityId, which can be a user, a group, or a record. The ShareType field on that row decides the access level. V means Viewer, so the user can view the file but cannot edit it regardless of their permissions on the related record. C means Collaborator, the read-and-edit tier. I means Inferred, which tells Salesforce to derive the file permission from the user's access to the related record. With Inferred, read access to the record yields Viewer-level file access, and read-write access yields Collaborator. The distinction matters in code. If you insert a ContentDocumentLink with ShareType set to V against a record, you are pinning that user to read-only on the file even when they can edit the record. If you want the file permission to follow record access instead, use I. Picking the wrong letter is a common source of "why can't this user edit the attachment" tickets.
Viewer access through record sharing
Most Viewer access is not granted file by file. It flows from records. When a file is attached to an Account, Opportunity, or Case, users who can see that record generally get access to the linked file too. Read-only access to the record produces Viewer-level access to the file, while read-write access produces Collaborator. This is why a Contact on a customer Account, shared through the customer community, can open the proposals attached to that Account without anyone sharing each file by hand. The behavior is controlled by an org setting that lets file sharing inherit record permissions. When that setting is on, the inherited share behaves like ShareType I. Admins lean on this because it scales. Instead of managing thousands of individual file shares, you manage record access through your sharing model and let file visibility follow. The trade-off is less precision. If you need one specific user to stay read-only on a file even though they can edit the record, add an explicit ContentDocumentLink with ShareType V for that user.
Group-based Viewer access
Public Groups can be added as Viewers on a file, and every member of the group inherits that read-only access. This is the standard pattern for team-wide read-only distribution. Adding a Marketing public group as Viewer on the brand guidelines file gives every marketer read access without you tracking individual links. Group membership changes are reflected automatically, so a new hire added to the group picks up access to all the files shared with it. There is a useful default to know here. When you share a file with an individual through the share dialog, the access level starts at Collaborator. When you share with a group, the access level starts at Viewer. Salesforce assumes that broad group distribution is usually about consumption, not editing, so it picks the safer level for you. You can still bump a group up to Collaborator if a whole team genuinely needs to co-edit, but for most reference content the Viewer default is what you want.
Downgrading a Collaborator to a Viewer
Access levels are not fixed once set. Changing a ContentDocumentLink's ShareType from C to V downgrades a Collaborator into a Viewer. The user keeps the ability to view, download, and share, but loses the right to edit the file and upload new versions. This is handy when a document moves from an active editing phase into a locked review phase. While a proposal is being drafted, the deal team are Collaborators. Once it is approved and sent, you downgrade them to Viewer so nobody accidentally changes an approved version. You can do this one share at a time in the share dialog, or in bulk with Data Loader by updating the ShareType field on the relevant ContentDocumentLink rows. Going the other direction, from V to C, promotes a Viewer to a Collaborator. Keep in mind that the Owner always sits above both levels and can change any of these shares, so a downgrade by a Collaborator can be reversed by the Owner if needed.
A migration gotcha worth knowing
The Notes and Attachments to Lightning migration tool has a behavior that trips people up. When classic Notes and Attachments are converted into ContentNote and ContentDocument records, the generated ContentDocumentLink is set with ShareType V by default. That means users who previously had edit rights on the related record, and who would expect to edit the migrated note, find themselves locked to read-only because the file link pins them to Viewer. If you run that migration and then hear that people can no longer edit notes they used to control, this is usually the cause. The fix is to update the affected ContentDocumentLink rows to ShareType I so the permission follows record access again, or to C where a fixed Collaborator level is appropriate. This is a good reminder that ShareType V is a hard read-only override. It does not bend to the user's record permissions the way Inferred does, which is exactly its purpose, but also exactly why it can surprise you after a bulk operation.
Auditing what Viewers do
Read-only does not mean invisible. Salesforce tracks file activity, so you can see who viewed and downloaded a file over time. Download events are recorded against the file, and reporting on objects like ContentVersionHistory surfaces version and access activity for compliance review. For sensitive material this matters. Granting Viewer access still means people are taking copies of the file to their own devices, so for high-stakes documents you want both the audit trail and, ideally, data loss prevention controls layered on top. One related point on limits. A single file supports up to 2,000 total shares across people, groups, and records combined. Viewer shares count toward that ceiling just like Collaborator shares. If you are distributing one file very widely, sharing through a group counts as one share rather than one per member, which keeps you well under the limit. For truly broad, login-free distribution, a public link is a different mechanism that bypasses user-based sharing, and it should be used carefully for anything sensitive.
Share a file as Viewer (read-only) in Lightning Experience
Granting Viewer access means sharing a Salesforce File with a person or group at the read-only level. You do this from the file's share dialog in Lightning Experience. Remember that individuals default to Collaborator and groups default to Viewer, so when you share with a person you usually need to change the level to Viewer explicitly.
- Open the share dialog
From Files home, a record's Files related list, or the file preview, find the file and click Share. This opens the dialog where current shares are listed under Who Can Access.
- Add the person or group
Type the name of the user or public group you want to grant access to. As you add them, note the access level that appears next to their name.
- Set the level to Viewer
For an individual, change the access dropdown from Collaborator to Viewer. For a group, Viewer is already the default, so confirm it rather than change it.
- Lock down re-sharing if needed
If this is finalized content that should not spread further, select Prevent others from sharing and unsharing before you save.
- Save and confirm
Click Share. The recipient is notified, and the new Viewer share appears under Who Can Access. You can revoke it later with the X next to their name.
Set to Viewer for read-only (view, download, share). Collaborator adds edit and new-version rights; Viewer does not.
Individuals default to Collaborator, groups default to Viewer. Adjust the dropdown to match the access you actually intend.
When on, Viewers and Collaborators cannot pass access along, so the share list stays under your control.
- Sharing with an individual defaults to Collaborator, not Viewer, so you must change it down if you want read-only.
- ShareType V is a hard read-only override and ignores the user's record permissions; use ShareType I if you want file access to follow record access instead.
- A Viewer can still re-share the file unless you select Prevent others from sharing and unsharing.
- A single file allows a maximum of 2,000 total shares across people, groups, and records combined.
Prefer this walkthrough as its own page? How to File Viewer in Salesforce, step by step
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on File Viewer.
Hands-on resources to go deeper on File Viewer.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What set of actions is a File Viewer in Salesforce Files limited to?
Q2. How does a user typically come to have Viewer access to a file linked to a record?
Q3. What changes when an admin sets a user's ContentDocumentLink ShareType from C to V on a file?
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